


In Plain Sight

by inviernos



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F/M, HighSpecs, HighSpecs Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 10:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12209061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inviernos/pseuds/inviernos
Summary: Past experience told Ignis that telling his friends about his romantic interests was 100% a bad idea, but Aranea was starting to make it harder to keep this a secret.





	In Plain Sight

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Day 6 of HighSpecs week for the "confessions" prompt.
> 
> There are some tiny food mentions in this and a battle scene at the beginning but none of the violence is too graphic. But please feel free to avoid if you need to.

“Ignis!”

Noctis’ voice was muffled by the pouring rain, but Ignis would have been able to recognize that command from miles away.  He took a steady breath in and summoned his daggers.  A shot rang out and the red giant turned its attention towards Prompto.  It swung its giant sword towards him much faster than it should have been able to as Prompto nimbly moved out of the way just in time to watch the daemon struggle to remove its weapon from the ground.  Ignis knew this was his chance. 

He focused his power; a fire began to burn within him and within seconds it spread throughout his body.  He channeled the magic through his hands and soon his daggers were aflame.  He only had seconds to do this, just as the daemon had freed its sword, Ignis was on it; daggers ablaze as he phased through the red giant and surrounded it in flames.

“Yeah, that’s our Iggy!”  He heard Gladio yell as the giant dropped down to its knees.

Ignis turned back around, still on guard, and summoned his lance.  Soon the daemon would melt into the ground in the usual puddle of black and purple ooze and they could finally be on their way to the haven between the trees.

Gladio had gotten there first.  He reached back with his shield and drove it down on the creature with all of his might just in time for it to rise back to its feet.  Ignis let out a sigh of disappointment.  This wouldn’t be finished as quickly as any of them were hoping.

“It’s not dead yet?!”  Prompto yelled from behind a tree, firing off another shot.

Ignis was about to charge at the creature again when there was a familiar noise in the air just past the rain and the groans of the giant.

“Looks like we got company!”   He heard Gladio yell.

“Great…MTs on top of this…” Noctis grumbled.

Ignis leapt out of the way as the red giant reared back and slammed its fist into the ground, releasing a wave of dark energy that momentarily stunned Gladio and Prompto who had been standing too close.  He took his chance to look up towards the ship, expecting the worst, but smiled when he realized it was a familiar shade of red.

“It looks like our backup has arrived,” said Ignis.

Noctis warped to the top of a group of rocks to regain his strength, and Ignis followed to cover him from any other signs of danger.  He was certain he knew who would soon come flying from the ship’s bay, but still brought an arm out to shield Noctis.

It felt like an eternity, Gladio and Prompto were keeping the monster busy as Noctis rested up, but it seemed to no avail.  And then, finally, the back of the ship opened to reveal exactly who Ignis had been waiting for.

“Hey boys.”  Aranea’s voice was music to Ignis’ ears. 

“Aranea?”  Noctis wondered aloud.

She summoned her lance and got a running start from the back of the ship.  She leapt from the dock, flowing through the air as if the wings from her armor were real and charged, driving her lance into the daemon’s back.  It let out a cry and dropped back to its knees once again.

“Think this is your chance, boys,” she said as if this battle was nothing to her at all.

“Let’s go!”  Gladio yelled.

Ignis couldn’t see him, but he heard Prompto fire a barrage of bullets.  He summoned his own lance and hit the daemon twice in quick succession as Gladio summoned his shield once again and reared back, slamming it down on the red giant.  It didn’t dissipate, but it wasn’t trying to get back up again either.  They were almost there.

“Noct, it might be a good idea if you…” Ignis began.

“I’m on it!”  Noctis shouted as he summoned his royal scepter.  It shimmered in the dark night through the pouring rain; Noctis harnessed its power and warped high into the air above the kneeling daemon.

“Aranea!”  Ignis called out quickly and he could’ve sworn he saw her wink through her helmet.  Two weapons in the air would be better than one.

Before he could get the words out he watched her zip into the sky even higher above Noctis.  She seemed to slow down as she neared the ground again.  As soon as she was level with Noctis, she nodded.  Noctis reared back with his weapon and began to descend in time with Aranea.  They both brought their weapons down heavy into the exposed back of the daemon, and with that it was over.

A whining noise accompanied the daemon finally appearing to melt into the ground, just as the drops of rain began to slow to a stop

“Hmm, that might have been overkill…but we got it done,” she shrugged happily.

“Nice moves, Highness.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you, Aranea,” said Noctis.

“I know,” she smirked. 

“Well, I had a great time, but I’ll be seeing you boys,” she said as she turned on her heel.

“You’re going already?”  Ignis asked quickly; knowing that if he didn’t say anything fast she’d be gone just like that again.

“Why?  What’s up, Specs?” she asked.

“I-…Nothing,” Ignis tried to regain his composure and appear casual. 

“But we were on our way to a haven.  You were a great help in this battle, the least we can do is offer you dinner.”

Aranea seemed to think over his words, before quickly responding in a tone that was much higher than he’d heard her speak in before.  “Okay.”

“I mean, yeah,” she cleared her throat, speaking in her usual voice again.  “That’d be great, just let me tell the guys.”

“Alright!”  Prompto cheered.  “Dinner with our favorite dragoon!”

They shared a quick smile before heading in separate directions.  At this point in both of their journeys, they had decided that it was best to be as discreet as they could manage.  It had only been what felt like a few weeks ago at another haven that they had even discussed their feelings, and Ignis had always preferred to keep his romantic endeavors private from the rest of the group anyway.  It wasn’t just the nonstop teasing he would have to endure, he simply thought it was none of their business.  The way things currently were they had to find whatever ways they could to spend time with each other.  But with just the extra bit of time he’d gotten with her lately, Ignis wanted to shout this from the mountaintops.  With each smile, she made it harder and harder to keep the secret quiet.

On the short remaining distance to the campsite, Ignis thought to himself about what foods he had known Aranea to like and if they had anything remaining in their stock.  He knew the others wouldn’t complain anyway, but she was their guest and he should cook what she’d like to eat, after all.

“That Aranea is a godsend, ain’t she?”  Ignis heard Gladio ask no one in particular as he set up his makeshift kitchen.

“Someone say my name?”  Aranea’s head popped up over the side of the haven as she began to walk up the pathway to join the boys.

There was a chorus of cheerful greetings from the four men as she made herself comfortable and sat down on the tarp covering the wet ground in front of the campfire.  Ignis had been glad that it stopped raining long enough that the five of them wouldn’t have to crowd into the tent to eat dinner.

“Biggs and Wedge aren’t joining us tonight?”  Ignis asked, noticing that she was alone.

“Nah, they were a little too involved in a card game up there.  Said they’ll come down when they get hungry, but I wouldn’t bet on that myself,” she shrugged.

“So like…how do you always seem to find us out here?”  Prompto spoke up suddenly, preventing Ignis from speaking.

“Welp, seems like the empire has been handling their _own_ business a lot more lately.  Not a lot to do most nights, so me and my men do a few late night patrols to see if anyone is in trouble and we seem to come across you guys more often than not,” she said.

“The honorable Commodore,” Ignis said absent-mindedly to himself as he prepared food.

“Something like that…” he heard Aranea say.

“But why only when we’re fighting red giants?”  Noctis asked.

“Guess you just get lucky every time, pretty boy.”  She shrugged.

“Now, if you guys would excuse me.” 

Ignis heard the sound of her boots against the ground behind him and then suddenly, she was at his side.

“What are we having, Ignis?”

She leaned on the table in front of them and stared into the bowl. 

“Oh, are those the fish stick kebab things you made from before?” she looked up at him in anticipation.

“They are, I’m just breading the fish now…Noct had a pretty good haul the other night and I seem to remember you liked them, so…” 

“Thanks Specs,” she spoke in a tone where he couldn’t exactly tell if she was being sarcastic or not, but he felt his face get warmer all the same.

Ignis cleared his throat as he felt warmth from Aranea inching closer to him and a hand softly came to rest in between his shoulder blades.  He paused until he was sure that her hand on his back was actually what he was feeling.  As much as he would have liked for her to keep her hand there, their backs were unfortunately facing the rest of the guys and if any of them saw, he’d never hear the end of it.

“Aranea,” he whispered.

“Hmm?” She looked up at him with care in her eyes; it would be wonderful if they could stay like this, but they couldn’t get careless.

“Remember…them…”  He tilted his head back in the other guys’ direction.

“Oh…right,” she said as her eyes got wider.  She immediately removed her hand and casually took a step to the side away from him.  He watched her inconspicuously turn her head to the side, pretending to look at the area around the haven to gauge if any of the others were staring.

“I think we’re safe,” said Aranea quietly.

“Thank you.”  Ignis smiled at her.  “I’d prefer not to have this conversation with them now, anyway.”

“Yeah, no, you’re right,” she laughed quietly with him.  “We both know they’d never shut up about it.”

“You are correct, my dear,” said Ignis as he continued to prepare the food.

“Would you mind turning on the stove so that the oil can heat up?” he asked as he continued to work.

“No problem,” said Aranea.  “I’m starving.”

“You shouldn’t have to wait much longer.”

It didn’t take long for the oil to heat up, and while Ignis watched the skewers to make sure they didn’t burn, Aranea helped him by chopping vegetables to accompany the fish.  He didn’t typically have help when he cooked their meals.  And he usually would have refused her help, she was a guest and she shouldn’t have to work, but it was nice to have Aranea’s assistance in doing something that he enjoyed so much.  And with her help, they soon joined the other three men with a plate of fried fish.

“Dinner is served,” Aranea said proudly.

“Thank you for your help,” said Ignis.  He nodded to her over his mug of coffee hoping she could see the gratitude in his eyes.

“About time.  Thanks you two,” Gladio nodded appreciatively in Aranea’s direction as he put food on his own plate. 

“Yeah, thanks Aranea,” said Noctis.  “You helped us out twice tonight.”

“Yeah, thanks for the food Aranea,” Prompto quickly echoed.

Ignis decided it would be a little less suspicious if he sat and ate his meal with Gladiolus.  Aranea was too busy having her ear chewed off by the two younger men sitting around the campfire that Ignis wouldn’t have gotten a word in anyway.

“There he is,” Gladio said not bothering to look up from his phone, “the man who’s been ignoring us ever since Aranea got here.”

“You only came over here so you wouldn’t look suspicious didn’t you?”  Gladio glanced up, a smug smile on his face.

“Am I not allowed to eat dinner and catch up with one of my best friends?” Ignis asked sarcastically.

“Not when you’re being this obvious,” Gladio laughed.

“Alright then,” said Ignis as he made his way back out of his chair.  This was probably exactly why Ignis had never said anything in the first place.

“Heyyyy,” Gladio said as he placed a hand on Ignis’ shoulder and gently nudged him back into his chair.

“I’m just kidding,” he continued.  “Mostly…you never denied it, you know.”

“Well, there’s nothing to deny,” Ignis shrugged.

“If you say so, buddy,” said Gladio.

Ignis was relieved that the light from the campfire didn’t quite reach where they were sitting and Gladio couldn’t see him start to feel hot under the too many layers of clothing he was wearing.  He watched Gladio lean forward in his chair and Ignis could already tell he wasn’t going to like what he had to say next either.

“If you don’t wanna tell us anything, that’s cool, but I don’t know how you think no one else notices that the two of you always seem to disappear together.  Not even Prompto is that oblivious, man.”

“I can assure you I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  Ignis maintained, glad that he had kept his composure and been able to calmly take a sip from his mug.

But his mind began to betray him again and for a split second he had almost considered it.  He was a fool for thinking that he could keep this hidden from his friends for as long as he had.  And especially these men who had known him the longest.  Ignis had always thought they were quite discreet, but he couldn’t be surprised that somewhere along the way in the rush of feelings, they might have had a lapse in judgement. 

Ignis put his full attention on the plate of food in front of him, shaking the thought out of his head for now.  Gladio was telling him that he knew without even saying the words.  Even if Ignis had wanted to finally bring the words to life himself, he couldn’t without Aranea’s permission.  Once again he began to wonder what the worst that could happen was.  It wasn’t that big of a deal and Ignis knew that they both knew this, but Aranea seemed to be fine with things just the way they were and until she said otherwise, he wouldn’t be saying anything. 

“Come on Iggy, don’t be mad,” Gladio pat him on the shoulder a little harder than he should have.

“I’m not mad,” Ignis said abruptly.

“Then why are your eyebrows like that?”  Gladio laughed.

“You really think we wouldn’t be happy for you Iggy?” Gladio continued, his tone softening.

“Again, I have no idea what you’re on about,” Ignis repeated, mostly out of habit.  He knew that Gladio was just as amused as he was that he was still keeping the lie going.

“Fine then, Iggy.  I’ll drop it…for now,” said Gladio. 

“Let me just say though, you really outdid yourself this time, Aranea is...”

“Gladio,” Ignis warned.

“Right,sorry,” Gladio cleared his throat.  “Shutting up now…”

Even though Ignis hadn’t said much of anything outright, he still felt a weight leave his shoulders.  And it was much easier to get Gladio back to their regular non-Aranea focused conversation topics.  They were so caught up in their discussion about the colors people chose to have their chocobos dyed, that Ignis was caught off guard by Noctis suddenly walking past them to make his way into the tent.

“Is it that time already?”  Ignis checked his phone.

“Guess so,” Gladio said with a yawn.

Not too long after, he heard Prompto offer to take Aranea’s plate up to the makeshift kitchen.  Then, Ignis knew it was really getting late.  The four of them that remained outside cleaned up their dishes in relative silence with a yawn here or there.  The other two men made sure to thank Aranea for her help once again.  And once Ignis had assured Prompto he didn’t need any more help cleaning up, he was the next to say goodnight, leaving just Ignis and Gladio with Aranea.

Once their trash was sorted away and all of the plates put back in their places, Ignis sat down next to Aranea at the campfire.  He had had plans to catch up with her in private, but there was a certain other presence still lingering outside that was bothering him.  As much as Ignis did enjoy Gladio’s company, he didn’t enjoy it so much at the moment.

And Ignis didn’t like the look he was currently giving them either.

“Well, guess I’m gonna head to bed,” Gladio said in almost a sing-songy voice.

“Don’t stay up too late, you two,” he said teasingly.  Ignis could at least be glad that his statement hadn’t been accompanied by a wink.

“Good night, Gladiolus,” Ignis said in a much louder voice than normal.

“Right,” the older man replied.

Ignis watched Gladio enter the tent, but bravely stick his arm back out of the flaps to give them a thumbs up.

“Unfortunately, I think one of them has caught on…”  Ignis sighed.

“Gee, you think Ignis?”

Ignis looked over to see an amused smile on Aranea’s face lit up by the campfire. 

“What do you think about the other two?”

“If he’s figured it out, it’s probably likely that the other two have as well,” said Ignis.

“I guess that means our number is up, Specs,” she laughed.

“Guess that means we should enjoy the last moments of peace we’ll have for a while now,” said Ignis as he put his arm around Aranea's shoulders.

She scooted even closer to him, then he placed his hand on top of hers, interlacing their fingers.  A cool breeze blew past as she melted into him, providing a much welcome sense of warmth he was sure wasn’t entirely due to her body temperature.

“Eh…maybe we can just tell them tomorrow and get it over with,” she said.

“I mean, if that’s okay with you,” she looked back at him and seemed to be studying his face for any signs of disagreement.

“I think I’m just impressed that it took this long for any of them to say anything,” said Ignis.

“I mean, it’s really not a big deal, is it?” she asked.

“I suppose not.  Friends usually tell friends about these things don’t they?”

“They do.  Even if their friends are annoying about it,” said Aranea.

“Unfortunately so,” Ignis chuckled.  “But it’s only natural to share when someone important has entered your life, isn’t it?”

“I mean I just tried to keep the whole thing quiet because it was important to you,” she began.

“I mean…I usually keep relationship stuff private too,” she said.  “Definitely never had any reason to tell Biggs and Wedge about anything at all, but…I guess maybe I feel different now.”

Aranea had turned his hand over in hers and began to trace lines on his palm as she spoke.

“I’m kinda tired of sneaking around.  I want to tell people about you,” she said softly. 

“And I feel the same,” said Ignis quietly, still letting the weight of her words penetrate him.  He was usually better at finding his words.  He should have had something better to say, but she had said everything he was thinking.

“Oh, I know,” she said excitedly, and Ignis could tell she had her usual playful smile on her face.

“Tomorrow when I go, I’ll just kiss you goodbye in front of all of them and then _you_ can tell them.”

“And if you did that I would never forgive you.”

“Aww really?”  She teased.  “Cause it sounded like a pretty good idea to me.”

“It is one of the worst ideas you’ve ever had,” said Ignis as seriously as he could manage.

“You will not leave me alone to deal with them.”

“Fine then,” she said, faking a big sigh.  “We’ll tell them in the morning.  We’ll cook breakfast, it’ll be this huge thing…even though I’m pretty sure we’re just confirming their thoughts at this point.”

“It sounds like a plan,” said Ignis, trying to stifle a yawn.

“Don’t fall asleep out here, babe,” said Aranea.

“Well unfortunately I think I’m too tired to move,” Ignis let out another yawn.

“That red giant catching up to you?” she asked playfully.

“Unfortunately yes,” said Ignis.

“Poor you,” Aranea said softly as she wrapped her other arm around Ignis’ lower back and moved herself even closer to him.  She leaned her head on his shoulder and he gently leaned against her. 

“And here I was thinking after that heart to heart, we could stay up a little bit.”  She suddenly yawned, and covered her mouth.

“Oops.”

“The red giant finally getting to you?” Ignis mimicked her.

“Someone’s gonna have to go get the sleeping bags soon…” she said.  “Before we fall asleep.”

“I’ll get them…” said Ignis.  “But let’s just stay like this for a little while longer.”

*

Prompto’s eyes were still heavy with sleep as he felt a cold wind blow through the tent.  He shifted, feeling no resistance or pressure from a blanket and quickly realized falling asleep on top of his sleeping bag had been a very bad idea.

He could have fallen back asleep easily if only it weren't for the cold and the fact that he really needed to pee.  Prompto sat up and threw his shoes on as quickly as he could.  He glanced at his phone to make sure it was a reasonable enough hour that he didn’t have to worry about daemons and went to open the tent entrance.

“Oh…em…gee…whoops.” 

He barely got one foot outside of the tent before he had to sit back down inside, covering his mouth to quiet his laughter.  After he regained his bearings, Prompto slowly peeked his head outside of the tent just to confirm that he was seeing what he had thought he saw.

“Well…good morning you two,” he said quietly.

A smile appeared on his face at the sight of Ignis and Aranea sleeping peacefully under the sun that was just beginning to rise, slouched against a rock and wrapped in the rest of the blankets.  Prompto sighed at how happy they both looked together even while asleep.  Usually he would want to take a picture of a moment like this, but knew to keep their private moment just that.

He could wait.  It wouldn’t be much longer until everyone else started to wake up anyway.  Prompto chose not to risk waking up the two outside and closed the tent flap back up, making his way back to his own sleeping bag.

“Good for them.”

**Author's Note:**

> As always thanks for reading if you made it this far :3
> 
> This is my last entry for the week! I had the greatest time writing for these guys and just in general was glad to have another opportunity to write more HighSpecs because I love them so much. But thanks to everyone who read my nonsense and especially to the mods who put this week together for us :')


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